though time has not been kind to it. Seeing as it was only released in 2002 the pace and style of the film feels dated. The film starts with an opening sequence that is never explained or referred to again. The audience is then thrown straight into a scene with many of the key characters, you don't learn their names or their beliefs only that Sam, (Eric Tsang) is the leader of the Hong Kong mob and he's basically a basted.
After a brief speech a montage is set in motion, I found it very hard to figure out each character and what was going on. The movie flashes back to this sequence several times so I think it is important to make it simple to understand. It takes a good 15 minuets to get a basic grasp on what's going on. The first 20 minuets of the film is very fast paced. You are forced to lean a lot of back-story and character BIOS in short amount of time.
As the film progresses you figure out who you are routing for though as the story goes the line between good and evil is blurred and you are given the message "if a man does bad things for a good cause, is he a bad man or a good man?" I found Eric Tsang's acting to be poor and almost annoying in his attempt to appear evil. he came across more as being a bit of a clown than a mob leader.
The overall tone of the movie was dark and thought provoking but due to the movie being subtitled it is hard to follow the intricate details. The relation ship between Chen Wing-Yan (the cop undercover in the mob) and Superintendent Wong Chi-Shing to be believable and resembled a good friendship that is key for the story to affect the audience.
I found this movie to have a good thought out plot and message that can be at times hard to follow. The character building was hard to follow due to it being a foreign film. Many of the actors were believable in their roles. I would advise people to watch this before "The Departed" (Hollywood remake) as I did not so found it more complicated to follow due to changes in the story and characters.
After a brief speech a montage is set in motion, I found it very hard to figure out each character and what was going on. The movie flashes back to this sequence several times so I think it is important to make it simple to understand. It takes a good 15 minuets to get a basic grasp on what's going on. The first 20 minuets of the film is very fast paced. You are forced to lean a lot of back-story and character BIOS in short amount of time.
As the film progresses you figure out who you are routing for though as the story goes the line between good and evil is blurred and you are given the message "if a man does bad things for a good cause, is he a bad man or a good man?" I found Eric Tsang's acting to be poor and almost annoying in his attempt to appear evil. he came across more as being a bit of a clown than a mob leader.
The overall tone of the movie was dark and thought provoking but due to the movie being subtitled it is hard to follow the intricate details. The relation ship between Chen Wing-Yan (the cop undercover in the mob) and Superintendent Wong Chi-Shing to be believable and resembled a good friendship that is key for the story to affect the audience.
I found this movie to have a good thought out plot and message that can be at times hard to follow. The character building was hard to follow due to it being a foreign film. Many of the actors were believable in their roles. I would advise people to watch this before "The Departed" (Hollywood remake) as I did not so found it more complicated to follow due to changes in the story and characters.